Metal stock feeder mechanism



B. NADEL METAL STOCK FEEDER MECHANISM Oct. 22, 1957 Filed Aug. 24, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .min

I FIG. 2

I l'lwllllm h Oct. 22, 1957 B. NADEL METAL STOCK FEEDER MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 24, 1953 FIG. 6

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INVENTOR. ZMM 7 4. 4 zw M4r ATTORN EY United States Patent METAL STOCK FEEDER rMECH-ANISM Bernard Nadel;Riverside; R.' I.

Application August 24, 1953, Serial No. 3765194 1'. Claim. 1CL72712.5)

.The .;present invention trelates :sto :metal stamping and rims particular reference to sheet-.stockfeeding.

'.The principal. object. ofvtherrinventionaisutot provide -.a feeding mechanismfiwhich ffeeds. sheet:stockwcontinnonsly forwardly. :in intermittentrsteps.

Another, object of theinventionis to, provideia'feeding mechanism which .-advances sheet stock :iintermittently vWiiLlIOllt drag.

,Afurlther object oftheinventioniiszto providesanliin- -termittenti feeding. mechanism .1which.idoes%:.not:mar zithe ssurfacemf: sheet stock.

'An: iadditionaltaobjed :of: the .xinvention-,;is eto: provide -:a feeding mechanism having aareciprocating andzaistationzary -;stockgripping :device whichmooperates :10 ealterz-natelymullthestock forwardlynnforwardunovementuof Jihe relciprocatingagrippingrdeviceiandirhold::the:.stock:staiionary son"rearwardazmovementeofz therreciprocatingfle- --v1ce.

Imone :aspect .-.of xtheiinventiongthe :fixed and reciprocable feeding memberseaoh haveta stocktgripping-zdevice, the feeding members being movable relative to each other by a suitable means. Each of the stock gripping devices has a channel-extending therethrough for receiving: the :stripystock ,tobe fed,, the*chann'el having-a,.-transverse slot or awedge-shaped opening for receivingsg'ripping rollers. The; slot has opposed substantially planar-roller -guide surfaces inclined toward each;:other, onesur'face :beingabove or onone side ofthe channel auditheiother below-oreon the other side .oftheuchannel. iResilient means, which maybe spring means,:u-.rge therrollersioward each other so as to grip and center the stock when the rollers are moved convergingly toward each other.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, the invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and more specifically defined in the claim appended thereto.

In the drawings,

Fig. l is a front elevation of an illustrative feed mechanism embodying the invention, the pitman rod being partially broken away;

Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1, the parts being in initial feeding position, the end feeding position being indicated in dotted lines;

Fig. 3 is a view of the rear plate of the feeding members;

Fig. 4 is a view of the front plate of the feeding members;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section through the feeding members on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, the parts being in initial feeding position;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, the parts being in end feeding position;

Fig. 7 is a sectional detail on the line 77 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a sectional detail on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7; and

. 22 .4 Fig. 9, iisia perspective view sofa feeding member block. it hElSzbBEIl found desirablezntoprovide11a sheet stock .-feeding mechanism which-scontinuously advances the .stockein desired-.selectivelynn'iform increments of lengths 5 :without smar-ring'. the :surfaee thereof. :To this end, -I provide a base having a fixed membenandz-a*reciprocable movable t'membernon which ;I mount. tworstoek :gripping devices, securely mounting: one tdevice-in thfiatfiXfid ;mem her :and ,secnr ,1y mounting 1 the second device eon the .movable member-in alignment 'with the :first wdevice. The gnipping :devices have throughfeed passageways which'ia-re ima'lignment. and which :have; rollers: seated in a wedge shaped opening; positioned: :astride each passageway fro-receive tstr ipzstock-;therebetween. The rollers 5 slidably move within-the-wedge.shapedopening towards and: 3WlYvf-1iQHlifiChQthf -in response. tQztllt? reciprocating movement. f.-!the movable-member, whereby theistrip .stock sisnintermittently moved forwardbythe action :of .the rollers within; the; gripping device :on' the movable member. and iaheld-against rearward movement by'ithe rollers within-t:the;gripping device .onthe. fixed member.

.Referring tottthe drawingsgithe ,novel feeding mecheanism:.ltlmcludesa fixed feeding unember 11 and a-recip- 'rocable feeding tmember 12, ttherreciprocablefeeding member including ;parts ;-for grippingw a1 :length. :of sshcet stock and moving it f0rwardly-when-. -the reciprocable fcedingjmember moves forwardly and.-for:releasing its gnip-wlhen-thet reciprocablei-feeding member moves rearwardly, sthe fixedefeedingzmember includinggparts' which .givetorpermit-the forward movement'tof.theisheet stock .and iwhichg-rip to prevent.-rea-rward movement of-the .sheetstockwvhen thereciprocable feeding member-moves rearwardly.

Thefixedrfceding member 'llrincludes anzupperblock 13 and a-lower block..14--.-w,hich are ofgenerallyrrectangular form astshown inEig.- 9, -with a transverse; slot 15.=:.having parallel .sides- 16, 17--'and:;an,-inclined lower: face 2 18, the :upper-surface :ofv the; block:having.;a feed recessr19. :Two .bores .-.20,. are. provided in :the rear-1, face v.21 of the block, thebores. incliningrasnillustrated ini'alignment with the inclination ofithecloweriface 18,eand:.terminating in redueedaxial: passages :22, whereby agplunger. 23 mayv be mountediin :each bore. The plungerz23x-hasaa.central ldi-sk portion -24 lslidably; POSilZlQIlGd ZlH'. its bore,:2.0, :an axial pin 25 extending rearwardly through the passage 22, and an axial stem 26 adapted to receive a compression spring 27, the end of the bore being closed by a lock stud 28 threaded or otherwise secured therein. 'A transverse roller 29 is positioned in slot 15, to be contacted and resiliently urged forward by the axial pins 25.

The blocks 13 and 14, after assembly of their plungers, springs and rollers, are secured together by a rear plate 30, see Fig. 3, which is attached thereto by screws or the like 31, and which has-a transverse feed opening 32; the feed recesses 19 cooperating to provide a centrally positioned feed channel 33, see Fig. 4. The upper block 13 is similar to the lower block, with a similar roller 34 seated in a transverse slot 35, the upper face 36 of which is inclined as illustrated, and similar spring pressed plungers 37 and springs 38 seated in inclined bores 39.

The fixed feeding member 11 (Figs. 2, 5) is mounted in the vertical plate 40 of an angle support 41, the lower portion thereof providing a base 42 for mounting on a suitable table or the like. An angle shelf 43 has a feed shelf 44 with a lower flange secured to the base 42, the shelf 44 extending outwardly as illustrated and having a transverse slot 45 in which two roller guide elements 46 are adjustably mounted.

The reciprocable feeding member 12 is preferably of similar construction to the fixed feeding member 11, with an upper block 47 (Fig. 6), a lower block 48, an end length of the plate 49, rollers 51, 52 seated in transverse slots 50 having inclined upper and lower faces 53, 54 and spring pressed plungers 55 56 (Fig. 5). The reciprocable feeding member 12 is mounted in a vertical plate 57, see

61 is mounted to extend through the vertical plate 40 and the shelf 43, for engaging a stud 62 mounted in the rear face of the lower block 48 of-the reciproca'ble feeding member, a second adjustment screw 63 being mounted in'a rear bar 64 secured to the base 42 for contact with a stud .65 mounted in the forward face of the lower block 48, the screws 61 and 63 being set to provide end stops for the reciprocable feeding member.

The mechanism forreciprocating the reciprocable feeding member is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The vertical plate 40 and the vertical plate 57 respectively have yoke members 64, 64A with cross shafts 66, 67 for pivotally receiving the lower ends of two toggle links 68, 69 which are pivotally connected at their upper ends to the cross shaft 70 of a yoke 71 adjustably threaded on the lower end of a pitman 72. The upper end of the pitman 72 is threaded into the socket 73 of the outer ring 74 of a universal coupling 75 mounted on the adjustable cross slide 76 of a drive wheel 77.

The operation of the novel feeding mechanism may now be explained. Sheet stock which is fed into the feed channel passes between the transverse rollers of the fixed feeding element and the reciprocable feeding element, the rollers being resiliently urged into contact with the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet stock. The reoiprocable feeding member being pulled forwardly, see Fig. 6, pulls the sheet stock forwardly as the transverse rollers move rearwardly to provide a firm grip on both sides of the sheet stock; the transverse rollers of the fixed feeding element shaft upwardly against spring tension to permit this forward movement of the sheet stock.

The forward movement and rearward movement of the reciprocable feeding mechanism are limited by the forward adjusting screw and the rear adjusting screw, the pitman and the setting of the stop screws being initially set, after a preliminary slight over-running adjustment, to obtain the exact feeddesired. The rearward movement of the reciprocable feeding member releases the grip of its transverse rollers, whereas return shift of the sheet stock causes the transverse rollers of the fixed feeding member to move down and grip the sheet stock on both surfaces to stop rearward movement of the sheet stock.

Although I have disclosed a specific constructional feature of my invention, it is obvious that changes in the size, shape and arrangement of the parts may be made, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the claim appended thereto.

I claim:

A feeding arrangement including a fixed feeding member and a reciprocable feeding member, said members each having gripping device means, means for reciprocating said reciprocable feeding member forwardly and backwardly with respect to said fixed feeding member, each of said gripping device means having a longitudinally extending channel therethrough, strip movable through said channel, a transverse slot across said channel, said slot having opposed roller guide planar surfaces, said surfaces being inclined towards each other and being symmetrical relative to each other, one of said planar surfaces being above said channel and the other being below said channel, separable movable rollers positioned above and below said channel within said slot and between which said strip can pass, and resilient means urging said movable rollers against said inclined surfaces and towards each other and said strip therebetween, movement of said strip relative to said rollers in the direction of convergence of said surfaces relative toeach other moving said rollers along said. opposed planar surfaces and towards each other into gripping engagement with said strip, said strip being centered in said channel as said rollers move together, and being released when said rollers move apart due to movement of said strip in the opposite direction relative to said member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Adams Dec. 7, 1954 

